HPL's Show Support for Mrs. Cynthia Hurd, Librarian

Dear HPL,

The nation is still reeling from the senseless killings that occurred at the Emanuel AME Church  in Charleston, SC last week. Our hearts go out to all the families and friends of the victims. One of the nine  people killed was our colleague,  Mrs. Cynthia Hurd.

Mrs. Cynthia G. Hurd worked for the Charleston County Public Library System for 31 years. During her tenure at CCPL, Mrs. Hurd was the manager of the John L. Dart Branch and later the St. Andrews Regional Library. Since 1990, Mrs. Hurd also worked as a part-time librarian at the College of Charleston’s Addlestone Library. Mrs. Hurd graduated from Clark Atlanta University and earned a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of South Carolina.   Aside from her professional endeavors, Mrs. Hurd was active in her community serving on the Charleston City Housing Authority board of commissioners, as president of the Septima P. Clark Corp. and a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.  Mrs. Hurd is survived by her husband Steve, along with five siblings; Robert Moultrie, Gilbert Moultrie, Melvin Graham Jr., Averill “Jackie” Graham Jones and former North Carolina Sen. Malcolm Graham.

To honor Mrs. Hurd's memory and to show support for the director and staff of the Charleston County Public Library, we will send a specially designed card to her branch library signed by as many HPL staff members as possible. The card will be located at the welcome desk at the Central Library for two weeks to allow as many staff who would like to sign it to do so.  The card will be available for you to sign from June 30 to July 10.  Although it is a large card, to allow space for all staff who wish to sign, please do not write a message - just sign your name.

In addition to the card, there is an opportunity to contribute to Mrs. Cynthia Hurd’s memorial fund. Please send your donations in form of a check or money order payable to “Houston Public Library”, please indicate Fund 133 “Mrs. Cynthia Hurd Fund”.  If you are interested in contributing to the fund as a part of our collective effort to show support, HPL finance office is prepared to receive your donations. Please send all donations to Financial Services office indicating the fund information. Donations can also be sent with daily deposits using the money bag. We will collect your donations for two weeks and then send them along with the card to Mrs. Hurd's library.

Thank you.

All the Best,

Rhea Brown Lawson